Life in the After
by Darling Pretty
Summary: Life after a near death experience. Life after office hours. Life after one sleepless night. These are all things Tony and Kate have to deal with, in my take on Twilight and the events after. Tony/Kate.


**a/n: So this is just a little random oneshot I wrote while watching an NCIS marathon (um, needless to say, best day off ever?). It's my take on Twilight, where Kate doesn't die (mainly because I just plain like her more than Ziva. Not that Ziva isn't cool or anything. Kate's just more awesome). So, yeah, that's the basic premise. Enjoy.**

**disclaimer: How should I put this? If NCIS was mine, there would definitely be hints that Kate was in the Witness Protection Program or something, not dead, and could come back at any minute (say... next week?). Oh, and Ducky would get more screen time. Because he's awesome. As this is not true, I think it is safe to assume that NCIS is not mine.**

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It must be her Secret Service training that makes her do it. Too much time protecting a man who needs to be protected at all costs. Gibbs is like that. So when she sees the shooter taking aim, she jumps in front of him. Never mind that it might mean her own life. It means that Gibbs gets to keep his, and in the moment that seems infinitely more important. Besides, she is wearing a bullet proof vest, which definitely increases her odds of surviving. So she jumps.

0ooo0

Everything runs in slow motion for Tony as he watches Kate jump in front of Gibbs, taking the bullet meant for him. She falls to the ground with a sickening thud. He is already on his way to her by that time. No need to worry about the shooter; Gibbs will take care of him.

For one second, he thinks she's dead. Worst second of his entire life. Then he sees the fluttering of her eyelashes, hears the shaky rattle of air entering her body again. He lets out the breath he hadn't even been aware he was holding. He opens his mouth to say something, God only knows what, but then Gibbs is next to him, and the time for saying anything is gone. He and Gibbs help her up, as she laughs shakily.

"So the Secret Service did teach you something useful after all," he laughs, nudging her playfully. Apparently not the best idea, since she doesn't have her balance yet, and she stumbles. Tony feels, more than hears, the bullet whiz by him, right where Kate would have been. He stands in shock, but then Kate tries to get up again. "Stay down!" he snaps, pushing her back down.

"Ari," Gibbs says quietly before ordering, "Dinozzo, get her inside." Tony opens his mouth to refuse, to say maybe Ari is after Gibbs, not Kate, but this is not the time to question him. Gibbs starts barking orders to McGee through his comm. unit.

"Kate, come on," he says, getting between her and the direction the shot came from. This guy wants Kate; he's going to have to go through him first.

Together they hurry inside the building, Tony making sure that everything is clear, that Ari can't get another shot at her. "You okay?" he asks. She seems to be in shock. Maybe getting shot at twice in a day is more than she can handle.

His voice seems to shake her out of it. "Y-yeah," she stutters.

"Really? Because you don't really seem like it. I mean, don't take this wrong, Kate, but getting shot at twice doesn't exactly do wonders for your complexion."

"Tony, I'm fine," she snaps, "I should have stayed in bed today, but I'm fine." There's the Kate he knows and loves.

"You sure? Because-" He's cut off by her, "Dinozzo! I'm fine."

They sit in silence for a moment. "Do you think Gibbs…" she trails off, not wanting to finish her sentence.

"Stay here," he says. "I'll go check." He returns a second later with Gibbs, who looks like he's in angry bear mode. No, it's worse than that. He looks like he's in angry Gibbs mode. And that's ten times worse.

He crouches down low next to Kate. "You okay?" he asks, looking her in the eye. She nods, but crosses her arms to run her hands up and down, hoping to warm herself up. The shock is obviously wreaking havoc on her temperature control. Gibbs starts to shrug off his jacket to give her for extra warmth, but Tony already has his off, wrapping it around his partner. It's probably the only time Kate will ever let him touch her, so he smoothes the jacket for good measure, prolonging the contact. She smiles gratefully.

"He's gone, Boss," McGee's voice says through their earpieces. Gibbs swears.

"Nothing more we can do here," he finally says. "Let's go back." When they get to the van, he says. "Kate, you ride in the back." When she opens her mouth to protest, he tells her, "There is still someone out there who just took a shot at you. I'm not taking any chances." She grumbles, but gets in back anyways.

"I'll ride in back with her," Tony volunteers.

"Oh great," she says, as he climbs into the back with her. "Just what I need. Being harassed by Tony the whole ride back."

He struggles to keep a smile from slipping onto his face, glad that she's still got that annoying mix of sarcasm and humor. "For the last time, Kate, I was only trying to put on my seat belt."

She gives him a skeptical look. "Yeah, right."

"Would you two quit it?" Gibbs snaps. It's a very sobering effect, and they stop immediately. They've never heard him so angry. Suddenly Tony becomes very, very sorry for Ari.

_2 Months Later…_

Two months. That's how long Kate has been living with a protection detail, with her apartment curtains closed, not going outside.

A month and a half. That was how long it took Kate to stop having nightmares. Now, two weeks later, everything has come crashing back down on her. It's been two months since they've heard from Ari, but now he's left a message for Gibbs, and now Gibbs is back on the hunt.

"No one leaves," he barks at the team. Even though Kate knows he's right, that their never going to be safer than in the Navy Yard, she can't help but feel annoyed. The floor is not a comfortable bed, she has no other clothes, and there is the small matter of brushing her teeth. She sighs.

"What, Kate?" Tony asks from his desk. "Not excited to spend the night with me?"

She glares at him. "I'd rather cut off my own hand, Tony," she replies.

"Well, at least it's only your hand and not something more important," he says, dragging his eyes over her torso in a way that should be lecherous, but somehow isn't.

She blushes. "You're such a pig, Dinozzo," she tells him.

"So you've said."

_5 Hours Later…_

Tony lies on the hard ground beside his desk, trying to sleep. Gibbs is gone, and no one has seen him. Probably meeting with Ari. Tony looks over at Kate, who has actually managed to fall asleep. Hopefully Gibbs is killing that bastard.

He doesn't want to think of the other possibility.

He doesn't want to think about what might happen if Ari manages to get into the Navy Yard, somehow. Well, if Ari wants Kate, he's going to have to go through him, and he will only get to Kate over Tony's dead body.

God, he really has to pee.

He gets up. McGee is asleep in his chair. Poor Probie's going to have a really stiff neck in the morning, but Tony's not nice enough to wake him up and tell him to sleep on the floor with his jacket as a pillow, like an intelligent person.

On his way back from the bathroom, he passes a vending machine.

God, he's hungry.

His wallet is in his desk.

Thankfully, he knows exactly where to bang to get item A7 to fall. It's Doritos right now. That's fine by him.

He bangs the spot. It echoes.

Kate screams.

Tony runs back to her desk, to find her alive and shaking. She's definitely close to hyperventilating. Instinctively, he wraps his arms around her. "Shh, it's okay," he whispers to her hair. She clings to him like she's drowning, and he's a flotation device. "It's okay," he repeats.

"I… I thought I heard a shot," she says shakily, once she's gained a bit of control back.

Suddenly, he feels terrible. "It was just the vending machine," he explains.

"What kind of vending machine is that loud, Tony?" she asks, thoroughly convinced that she heard a gun being fired.

He grins sheepishly. "The kind that I banged on to get food for free." She doesn't look convinced. "Here, look," he says, grabbing her hand to pull her up and over to the vending machines. The Doritos still sit, waiting to be grabbed. "See?" She looks a little calmer. "Want some?" he asks.

She looks thoughtful. Oh, right. She has that whole health food kick thing. Doritos are probably very high on her Never, EVER, Eat list. "I am kind of hungry," she admits. He grins and bangs the machine again. Another pack of Doritos falls.

"Milady," he says gallantly, handing her the package. She smiles gratefully. They sink to the floor, opening their bags on the way down.

"Is McGee _still _asleep?" she asks.

Tony checks. He is. "Wow. I think he could sleep through an earthquake. I really do."

"He slept through your incessant banging," she points out, popping a chip into her mouth with a smirk.

"Okay, it wasn't incessant. It was twice. And it's not like I'm the only loud one. I never took you for a screamer." Her smile disappears, and she averts her eyes. Tony stumbles to correct his mistake. "Oh, geez, Kate… I didn't mean… I mean… I meant that…"

She allows him to continue to try to fix the situation and her gaze remains solidly on the floor. "Kate?" he finally asks quietly. The gentleness of his tone takes her by surprise, so she looks up. "You do know I won't let anything happen to you, right?" he says. "I mean, I'll die before anything happens to you. You know that, right?"

She takes a minute before answering. "Yeah. I do."

"Just… could you just not do the whole taking a bullet for Gibbs thing, again?"

She looks at the floor, then back at him. "I'd do the same for you, you know."

They sit in silence for awhile, eating their chips. Finally, Kate stretches and stands up. "I'm tired," she says.

"Yeah, we should get some sleep," Tony admits. They walk back to the desks. McGee is still sleeping in his chair.

"He's going to be so sore tomorrow," Kate observes.

"Yeah. It's a probie mistake. Let Probie learn from it."

Kate weighs the options. "Yeah, okay."

"Kate's got a mean streak!" Tony exclaims.

She laughs, then remembers herself, and glares at him. "Oh, shut up."

"I mean I didn't think you had it in you. High five!" He approaches her, hand raised. She raises an eyebrow.

"Really, Dinozzo?"

"Yes, _Todd_. And I'm not leaving you alone until you give me five."

She rolls her eyes, and quickly slaps his hand. "There. Are we done now?"

"Sure," he says, then notices her shiver. "You cold?"

"A little," she admits. He looks around for something to warm her, but only seeing his jacket. He grabs it. "Here, put this on."

"I'm not taking your jacket, Tony."

"Fine, we'll spoon then," he says, knowing that it will make her take the jacket.

"Fine." With a final glare, she grabs the jacket and puts it on. Satisfied, Tony returns to the floor behind his desk.

Well, this little encounter was weird. Not bad weird, though. Good weird. And she smiled. That was good. He even got her to laugh a little.

He replays the sound of her laugh over as he starts to drift off to sleep.

Wait. He listens to the sounds of the office. No, there is definitely an extra sound. Is Caitlyn Todd crying?

He peers around his desk. Yep, that's definitely her.

Without thinking, he gets up and lies down next to her. "What the hell are you doing, Dinozzo?" she asks uncomfortably. While she doesn't exactly let him any nearer her, she doesn't move away either.

"You're crying," he accuses her.

Her voice takes on a rebellious quality. "So what if I am?"

"Kate," he says. She turns to look at him. "I don't like you crying. You know you can talk to me, right?"

"I… I'm scared," she admits. "What if… Ari… and Gibbs… and…" she trails off as tears fill her eyes again. He wraps his arms around her for the second time that night.

"This is Gibbs we're talking about here," he says. "Even if Ari got him, the man is like a cat. He has at least six more lives left in him." Tony pretends to think about it. "Actually, after ex-wife number two, that might be five…"

She laughs through her tears and Tony smiles. They stay like that, Tony's arms wrapped around her, protecting her from the cold and whatever else might try to harm her, for the rest of the night.

_3 hours later…_

"What is going on here?" Gibbs' voice booms. Kate and Tony both scramble up from the floor. McGee jumps in his chair, and nearly falls out of it.

"Uh, morning, Boss," Tony says sheepishly. "How was your night?"

"It was," Gibbs says gruffly. And that's all he says. No hint of what happened.

"And Ari?" Kate asks.

"Dead," Gibbs answers, and offers no more. He sits down at his desk, and Tony goes back to his.

After a couple minutes of silence, Gibbs says, "Do I need to remind you two of Rule Number 12?"

"No," Kate and Tony answer in unison. They lock eyes and smile, knowing Rule Number 12 has been shot to hell.

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**So there you have it. The end. **

**I didn't have a Valentine this year, and am rather despondent. I am cheered up by chocolate, music, or (cough, cough) reviews. :D**

**-Juli-**


End file.
